Luxury beach retreat in Vietnam

Please log in to recommend this experience

• Location: Vietnam
• Holiday Types: Beach, Spa

• by: simonbirkenhead
• on: Thu 24 May 2012

1 like 204 views

The luxurious five-star Princess D’Annam Resort & Spa is located on the edge of the pristine white sands of Ke Ga Bay near Phan Thiet, 150km to the east of the vibrantly teeming Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon). Only opened in 2008, this is said to be the country's first all-villa hotel but it eschews modern glitz for a combination of timeless tranquillity and style, with a level of service and attention to detail usually limited to the very best boutique hotels.  

While the drive to the resort from Ho Chi Minh City is not short (between three and four hours), having a driver provides you with plenty of opportunity to enjoy the varied scenery.  It also allows you to acclimatise to a slower pace of life, as the busy city streets give way to bucolic scenes of rice fields, smiling children in unfeasibly white school uniforms and expanses of the exotically named and alien-looking dragon fruit, each with its own little heater to protect it from the night-time drop in temperature.

Upon arrival at the Princess D'Annam we were greeted with cooling face towels and refreshing fruit drinks before being shown to our lemongrass-scented villa, complete with walk-in shower and enormous sunken bath. The villas are set amongst gardens with a profusion of tropical plants, through which shaded paths, perfumed with exotic blossoms, weave first towards a secluded swimming pool and then on towards the main restaurant and bar area which overlooks a luxury infinity pool and the beach beyond. 

We stayed at the hotel at the beginning of March, which we were told is the end of the busy season, although the weather showed little sign of breaking. Certainly the staff far outnumbered the guests and therefore perhaps our experience surpassed that of guests staying at the height of the tourist season.  As it was, nothing was overlooked to make our stay special. This included returning to our room on the first evening to find a complimentary bottle of pink champagne chilling in an ice bucket, awaiting our return.

The Princess D’Annam Resort is delightfully secluded from other signs of modern life, with the nearest town a significant car journey away. This does mean, however, that prices for food are higher than you might pay in other luxury resorts in Vietnam where there is more competition between restaurants. It was difficult to resent this, though, when the food and service were of such a high standard.

The perfect end to each day was spent sitting on the decking overlooking the beach, sipping expertly mixed Mai Tai’s and watching the sunset reflected like molten copper in the infinity pool with the palm trees silhouetted against the sky. As sunset gave way to darkness each night the staff lit a large bonfire on the beach to continue the display.

It is not only the stunning location and beautiful architecture, which made our stay so special;  the staff had perfected the art of being discretely attentive. There is also an excellently appointed spa, of which my partner and I both made use, having misjudged the strength of the sun on the first day.

Our time at the Princess D'Annam resort was limited to three days at the end of an action packed two-week holiday in which we managed to squeeze the main sights of the country. We were therefore happy not to venture out of the resort other than to wander along the beach towards the 19th century lighthouse on a rocky outcrop where we came across an incongruous bridal fashion shoot taking advantage of the dramatic scenery.

For those intending to spend more time in the resort, a number of excursions were offered, including a trip to nearby hot springs or to a local freshwater lake. However, for us the joy of the Princess D'Annam Resort was the luxurious surroundings it provided in which to completely relax and unwind.

• Destinations

photos